How-To Geek

Syndicate content
We explain technology. Learn more with our articles, reviews, tips, and the best answers to your most pressing tech questions.
Updated: 15 min 44 sec ago

Vivaldi browser has a new way to keep you focused on work

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 18:13

Tabs, toolbars, and address bars are essential for browser navigation, but when you’re deep into reading an article or watching a video, they’re just clutter that takes away the immersive viewing experience. Instead of adding AI features like its rivals, Vivaldi 7.9 is doubling down on interface control and distraction-free browsing with its latest update.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Don’t trust your car’s default audio settings—5 quick, free ways to improve them

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:45

Some car enthusiasts never even turn on their radio. For them, the only music they want to hear is that of a rumbling V8, a high-pitched flat-six, or a screaming Soprano V12. Sometimes the world of music and engine notes collide, such as when the Yamaha Corporation tuned the exhaust note of the 1LR-GUE 4.8L V10 engine in the Lexus LFA.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Home Depot's Spring Ryobi battery sale is too good to pass up

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:35

If you are gearing up for spring cleaning and DIY projects around the house, now is the perfect time to buy new power tools or stock up on battery packs. Ryobi fans will be happy to hear that Home Depot has some epic deals right now, and its Spring battery sale is better than last year's buy-one-get-one.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Save $200 on the ECOVACS Deebot T90 Pro Omni and keep your floors spotless

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:33

Spring cleaning is the time to get rid of the old and bring in the new. But when you start getting rid of said older decorations, you might find some hidden dust bunnies or stir some dust around. It's not pleasant, but it doesn't mean you need to add another step to your annual refresh.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your Excel PivotTable isn't complete until you add these two pro-level features

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:31

Many people treat a completed PivotTable as the finish line, but it's actually just the first step. In fact, pro-level Excel spreadsheets let users navigate the data primarily through Slicers and Timelines, minimizing the need to interact directly with the PivotTable grid. In minutes, you can turn static datasets into dynamic, app-like dashboards.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Raspberry Pi projects to try this weekend (March 20 - 22)

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:15

It’s that time of the week again—the time when the week ends and the weekend begins! That means you’ll have a few days to tinker with that Raspberry Pi that’s been sitting in a drawer for far too long, so why not give HomeBox, ntfy, or ChangeDetection.io a try?

Categories: IT General, Technology

3 legal ISP scams that are quietly inflating your monthly internet bill

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 17:00

Your internet service provider (ISP) can be great, but somehow, you're still more likely to hear horror stories than words of praise. I can relate—I've had a lot of bad experiences with incompetent ISPs, and that made me even more wary when dealing with such companies going forward.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 Android Auto settings you should change before your next drive

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 16:45

Android Auto is surprisingly customizable, yet most people never touch the settings once they connect their phone to their car. However, even though most of us never use Android Auto for anything other than Google Maps and Spotify, you should still tweak some settings to enhance your driving experience.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Nothing Phone 4a Pro review: Gimmicky but good

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 16:31

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is an aggressively mid-range Android phone. So much so that its flashy design, Glyph notification screen, and fun software make it tempting enough for someone to ditch a Samsung or Google flagship in favor of joining the Nothing bandwagon and saving some money in the process.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Think Windows 11 is annoying? These 4 Windows XP "nightmares" were way worse

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 16:30

Today, we look back on Windows XP with rose-tinted glasses and a half-wish that Windows 11 could be that great. But we've forgotten that Windows XP didn't launch in its final state. Far from it—Windows XP was actually a nightmare when it first appeared.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This 472-HP American super sedan outruns sports cars

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 16:15

High-performance sedans have redefined what it means to drive a practical car, blending everyday usability with levels of power once reserved for dedicated sports cars. In today’s market, some four-door models are capable of delivering acceleration and top-end performance that rival far more expensive coupes. One American super sedan takes that formula even further, packing nearly 500 horsepower into a package that looks as comfortable on the school run as it does on a racetrack.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 hidden PC settings you need to change before giving up on your aging GPU

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 16:00

It's easy to make yourself believe that you need one of the best graphics cards in order to run all the latest games, AI workloads, and other resource-heavy stuff.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The hidden Thread hub in your living room: 5 devices you didn't know were border routers

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 15:45

Matter smart home devices are becoming increasingly popular. If your device offers Matter over Thread, you may assume that you need to buy a special hub before you can use it. However, you may already have some devices in your home that can do the job.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How I've improved Windows 11 with a 30-year-old tool

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 15:44

Microsoft PowerToys debuted with Windows 95, evolved during the Windows XP era, but was discontinued until Windows 10. In 2019, Microsoft revived it with a modern UI and made it open source. Even after three decades, it remains my go-to tool for improving Windows with extra features.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This open-source photo editor convinced me to finally cancel Adobe Lightroom

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 15:30

Adobe Lightroom feels like the boss of digital photography workflows, and it is well-earned. However, over time, the company has made questionable decisions. The shift to a mandatory subscription, combined with it needing more powerful computers and you feeling increasingly locked into its file management, has made it less appealing. Luckily, Darktable, a powerful, open-source raw editor, has also grown over time. This app gives you a budget-friendly way to leave the Adobe world. It gives you the technical control over your photos and true ownership of your files that Lightroom's cloud-focused approach has increasingly pushed aside, and it totally convinced me to finally cancel my Adobe subscription for good.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How to repurpose an old Android phone as a smart display

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 15:00

Smart displays like the Google Nest Hub sound cool, but they’re extremely limited in real life. Ironically, the display is the weakest part. You can make a much more useful “smart display” with any Android phone or tablet.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I had no idea Home Assistant and Jellyfin could work this well together

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 14:45

When it comes to watching movies and TV shows or listening to music, I’m mostly a streamer these days. That said, I always have a Jellyfin server running on my network just in case the internet fails me.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Windows 11's best productivity feature is the one nobody uses

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 14:30

PowerShell is very intimidating, but it has stood the test of time in Windows 11. The command-line interface seems like an arcane realm reserved for IT professionals and developers. However, the core of the operating system is built on an automation engine that handles data as structured objects, giving everyday users the power to execute complex operations instantly. PowerShell is really a universally accessible productivity engine that Windows 11 hides in plain sight. In fact, it has a leg up over the terminal and command prompt.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 services that used pirated content to build billion-dollar empires

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 14:15

Like you, I had to sit through years of those "You wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy videos on DVDs that I had paid for. Ironically, people who actually pirated their DVDs didn't have to see any of that, but that's a conversation for another day.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh fixes the one thing that made the original not worth buying

Thu, 03/19/2026 - 14:00

A year and a half after releasing the Arrow Lake CPU lineup, which earned middling reviews, Intel is slated to launch its Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs (also known as Core Ultra 200S Plus) on March 26, 2026.

Categories: IT General, Technology

eXTReMe Tracker